There are three churches of Christ in my town. I have attended all three. There is one, smaller than the other churches, that has had no elders or deacons for about 15 years. My wife likes to go there. However, when I ask about the need for elders and deacons, I hear from some members that no one qualifies. Fifteen years seems to suggest to me that there must be some problems. The man who appears to be the one in charge celebrated fifty years of being there. Should I not question the lack of elders, or should I look to the churches that meet the words of scripture?<\/p>\n
Thank you for a reply and may God bless your congregation.<\/p>\n\t
It depends on the situation. La Vista has existed for forty years and only had elders one year, but that is because the area is transient and we have rarely been able to keep qualified men in the area long enough to establish elders. I have no idea why this congregation was unable to have elders, but ask. Being a small group would give fewer possible choices for elders and it would not be unusual for none to be selected.<\/p>\n
What matters most is that a congregation is following the Scriptures. If they don’t have elders because they don’t want elders, that is a problem. If they just don’t have members that qualify then they are putting following God accurately first. A congregation doesn’t get to pick who composes its membership. I’ve seen some places appoint unqualified men simply because they think they have to have elders no matter what. An unfaithful group can have elders and still be wrong.<\/p>\n
To make a choice based on one criterion is not seeing the whole picture.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: There are three churches of Christ in my town. I have attended all three. There is one, smaller than the other churches, that has had no elders or deacons for about 15 years. My wife likes to go there. However, when I ask about the need for elders and deacons, I hear from some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[123,667],"class_list":["post-38493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-elders","tag-organization-of-the-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90453,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-merge-with-a-nearby-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":38493,"position":0},"title":"Should we merge with a nearby congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I have a few questions about two churches of Christ merging. I'm a member of a church of Christ. Around five years ago, we had around 50 members, including two elders and three deacons. I was one of the deacons. Things changed a few years ago. The two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16170,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/may-a-church-without-elders-appoint-deacons\/","url_meta":{"origin":38493,"position":1},"title":"May a church without elders appoint deacons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: May a church assign to a servant or servants (deacons) a specific task or tasks in which they will serve the congregation and for which they will be responsible and answerable to the congregation for performing if the church does not have elders. In other words, may they set\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58913,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-think-committees-are-necessary-when-there-are-no-elders-or-deacons\/","url_meta":{"origin":38493,"position":2},"title":"Do you think committees are necessary when there are no elders or deacons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! Thanks for the enlightening content on your site. I read the answer you gave to a question that was about creating committees to carry out tasks for a congregation. 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Duties, such as these, are usually filled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25118,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-elders-responsible-for-the-employment-of-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":38493,"position":4},"title":"Are elders responsible for the employment of preachers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I enjoyed and appreciated your article on\u00a0the work of the evangelist.\u00a0 I find it quite different from many by what you might consider institutional churches of Christ. 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